In one known type of data communication system, a plurality of access terminals is connected to a common data bus for the exchange of information using data packets or frames. Such systems commonly have an interface unit connected between the data bus and the terminals and the interface actually accumulates (transmits) the frames for the terminal associated therewith. Such a system is sometimes referred to as a Local Area Network or LAN. The interface unit includes a memory having a receive buffer area and a transmit buffer area for storing frames after reception or before transmission. The receive and transmit buffer areas are actually a number of small buffer areas which can be linked together depending on the length of the frame to be treated. When information is to be transmitted from a terminal, a control unit in that terminal loads information into the transmit buffers and notifies the interface unit to transmit the information on the data bus. Similarly, after a frame is received, the interface unit notifies the control unit which unloads the designated receive buffers and moves the information to an area of memory for use by the terminal or for further transmission. Providing small linked buffers yields very efficient memory usage when the individual frames are small. However, each frame transmitted or received, requires substantial control unit time to load and unload the buffers. Thus, if large amounts of information must be moved in small frames, the control unit is severely burdened. We propose a method and arrangement whereby large amounts of information can be conveyed in a local area network, in which large frames are transmitted and a minimum of control unit time is required.